When Lebron James announced live on ESPN this past Thursday that he was signing with the Miami Heat to join forces with Dwane Wade and Chris Bosh I was a little surprised but otherwise I didn't have strong feelings about it one way or the other. When Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert released his ridiculous letter I didn't give it much thought either. (well maybe I did a little) Yet when I saw what I'm sure is just a small sample of the fallout from Cleveland sports fans I realized something that is really driving me nuts.....we take sports too seriously in the U.S.
Allow me now to give you a quick mini biography of myself. When I was nine years old I watched Michael Jordan (no I'm not named after him) for the first time. After that I was hooked and proceeded to become a huge sports nut. I quickly became a fan of the Oakland A's and Los Angeles Raiders (yes the Raiders were in Los Angeles back then) and for reasons I won't dive into now when I was twelve I switched allegiances to the Texas Rangers and Miami Dolphins. (when Dan Marino retired I dropped the Dolphins and replaced them with.....no one. I am a NFL free agent fan) I became a die hard Oklahoma Sooner football and basketball fan. Of course all that paled in comparison to my true love--the Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen led Chicago Bulls. Six championships in eight years and a lot of early summer thrills to go with it. The one series that Michael Jordan lost was in 1995 to the Orlando Magic led by Shaq. When that happened I cried and tore up my Shaq poster. No regrets I might add. After some dormant years with some lousy Bulls teams I am now a huge OKC Thunder fan.
Fast forward to now. Lebron James has broken the hearts of millions of people in Northeast Ohio. People there want to burn his jerseys and take down any billboards with him on it. Given the horrible history of Cleveland sports, all the disappointments of the Browns, Indians, and yes the Cavs what Lebron did seems like a cruel blow.
I'll admit I can't totally relate to what those Ohioans are going through, but I'll try anyway. I'm still a die-hard OU fan. I badly want to see OU win another national championship in football so they'll establish themselves as the greatest program in college football history. In basketball I know they'll never be at the level of North Carolina or UCLA, but I still badly want to see them win at least one national championship just to add to their prestige. This is not just because I love OU but I love the state of Oklahoma, where I've lived my entire life. So when OU does well that makes the Sooner state relevant....or so the reasoning goes. As a die-hard Sooner fan, and I hate to admit this, I follow recruiting fairly obsessively. When a high-school basketball or football star from this state is being recruited by OU and then chooses an out of state school....I feel anger and betrayal. (when a star goes to Oklahoma State I just feel anger) When blue chip basketball stars Xavier Henry and Daniel Orton (both from OKC) decided to go to more prestigious basketball schools I understood it but still resented them deeply. I don't want to see them get hurt but I have no interest in seeing them do well in the NBA and am glad they didn't win a national title in college. As far as I'm concerned they are not true Oklahomans. (like Blake Griffin is) Isn't this silly on my part.....BUT IT'S HOW I HONESTLY FEEL.
It's even worse in football. Because OU is prestigious in the grid-iron it completely baffles me why Oklahoma residents Demarco Cobbs and Josh Turner would commit to OU's hated rival Texas. I WANT TO CHOKE THEM!!! (or hook em) I especially feel that way about Turner since he's from Oklahoma City. The way I look at it I hope Cobbs and Turner don't get hurt but get buried in the UT depth chart. (this could happen to Turner. He's a corner back and when he committed to Texas the Horns already had commitments from two of the top five corners in the country.....making Turner's decision even more frustrating.) I also hope they never return to Oklahoma except when they play at Stillwater. That sounds bad and I admit I need help. I take sports too seriously.
So on a smaller scale that's how I relate to the Cavs fans. It's about being relevant in your city/state. Sports combines the love of sports with the love of where one is from. That's why the Cavs fans are so furious with Lebron. He's from the area, he played in the area, and now he's leaving the area. How dare he! The traitor! Actually I can't blame him. For OU their fate does not rest on one recruit....especially in football. Yet for Cleveland sports it was all about Lebron. That's a terrible position for one 25 year old man to be in. Not only did he have too much pressure he had too much love. What if you were dating a girl for awhile and you kinda liked her but you didn't love her. She on the other hand, burned by past rejections, was very much into you and made it obvious. She even told you she loves you. You feel smothered and want to leave but are afraid of how she'd handle it. You eventually leave and when she cries and handles it all wrong you feel validated. I think maybe one reason Wayne Gretzsky agreed to traded from Canada to LA in 1988 is because he was too loved by his fellow Canadians. That's maybe how Lebron felt and he needed to get out. And he did.
It's become obvious now that Lebron made the right decision. The way the Cavs fans have reacted shows they had loved him too much. You see Cleveland sports fans take sports too seriously. They're not only ones by any measure but their case of liking-sports-too-much is now in the public eye. We (yes I get like this too) forget so easily that it's just a game. We want to use sports to escape reality instead of facing reality head on. This whole situation could be the best thing that has happened to the people of Cleveland. They now have the opportunity to find something better to put their passion into. That's the key. Finding something that you're passionate about that you DO...not watch. Something that involves helping and serving others would be a whole lot better then sulking about the evil Lebron James. It's not like Cleveland has much else going on sports wise.
Hopefully I'll take this advice to heart. The next time the Texas Rangers tick me off with a terrible losing streak (like they are right now) instead of sulking about it I'll find something beneficial to do for a friend or family member. It won't be easy. I'm still a work in progress but I'm getting better.
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